The third stage of Mezz Cues Baltic Pool League 2023 was held in a warm Tallinn. The host of the event was nice and cozy Hill Hill Billiard Club. After three days of exciting events in mini, pro, women, men and seniors’ divisions there were few nice results. Pijus Labutis (LIT) managed to win second stage back-to-back in men’s division, women’s division was won by Daria Cheprasova (NED) and oldboys event was won by Miika Hirvonen (FIN). The mini warm-up event winner was young gun Leevi Auresto (FIN) and the high level pro event by Pijus Labutis.

Labutis weekend

After winning the pro event on Saturday evening Pijus Labutis kicked in another gear on Sunday. After slow start in the semi-final trailing 0:6 against the young and upcoming Auresto, Labutis did the magic and managed to make a great comeback and secure the spot in the final by a score 8:7. His opponent Dzmitry Hryb (POL) got the best of young Lithuanian gun Jokubas Silantjevas 8:5. The final did offer some nice twists and turns, but Labutis was the second final in a row unbeatable and therefore a well fought 8:5 win in the final.

Cheprasova got her gold

Daria Cheprasova was close to get the chance for gold already the last stage as she lost to Anna Grintśuk (EST) on a hill hill in the semi-final. However, this time she did not left many chances. After getting a sweet 6:2 revenge in the semi-final over Grintśuk, Cheprasova secured a comfortable 6:1 win in the final against Liana Machukans (EST). Machukans semi-final did give her some headache as she had to dig deep to get the 6:4 victory over Hella Śabaka (LAT).

Hirvonen showed some Finnish sisu

It was Miika Hirvonen who won the senior’s final against Guntars Timermanis (LAT) by a score 6:3. In his semi-final Hirvonen did not leave many chances for his countryman Janne Sallinen as the score 6:1 says it all. There was another countryman semi-final as Timermanis had to face Raitis Ozolinś in his semi-final. Although the final was quite one-sided Osolinś managed to snatch three racks for him.

Excitement in the mini event

The warm-up mini event on Friday evening was a great success with many interesting short races to four. In a thrilling all Finnish hill-hill final the young and upcoming Leevi Auresto was better of Antti Rantanen. The third places were won by Estonians Erki Erm and Oliver Lepp.

The PRO event excitement

The 16 invited players single elimination format needs no more introduction as the excitement is programmed already in the format. Additionally, it was the rehearsal for the Sunday’s final as the final was played between Pijus Labutis and Dzmitry Hryb as on Sunday open event. After an intense Saturday evening the winner was Pijus Labutis as he won the final 8:4. In his semi-final he did showed some class by beating Auresto 8:0. Hryb, however, got to show some composure as he won 8:5 over Mark Mägi from Estonia.

Over 100 participants in Tallinn

Another more than 100 participants on Mezz Cues Baltic Pool League stage as the total number of participants was 102. It is not only a nice number of participants but shows the hard work in constantly providing a top-class event and hence the trust of so many players. Therefore, big gratitude goes out to all the athletes, volunteers, fans and all other people and companies that were part of another enjoyable event. Additional gratitude to Estonian Billiard Federation, Latvian Billiard Federation and Lithuanian Pool Federation for their constant support and cooperation. Last but not least a big gratitude goes out to all the sponsors – Mezz Cues, Holly Case, Aramith, Iwan Simonis, Kamui, Aveiras, Turtle Rack Sheet, Arena Billiards Club, Bams Pool House, and Hill-Hill Pool Club.

The next event is scheduled to be held on 7^th of October in Uptown Billiards, Vilnius, Lithuania. For further information please visit our web page www.balticpoolleague.eu and Facebook www.facebook.com/balticpoolleague.